


Break The Chain

by LanternJawedStudmuffin



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Blood and Gore, Boarding School, Body Horror, Bullying, F/F, First Kiss, Friendship/Love, Mind Control, Past Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Horror, Reality Bending, Revenge, Supernatural Elements, Witches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-20
Updated: 2017-05-11
Packaged: 2018-08-23 13:37:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8329870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LanternJawedStudmuffin/pseuds/LanternJawedStudmuffin
Summary: A school for witches; a place for people like her. It ought to be a sanctuary for Namine, an escape from the horrors of her home, but the Academy for Gifted Girls may wind up being an even worse prison.





	1. Chapter 1

The gates of the manor, the site of Twilight Town Academy for Gifted Young Women, loomed imposing and sharp. Namine hadn't seen any place so large in her life, nor anywhere that reminded her so much of death. There were tall obelisks on the grounds which reminded her of headstones, though they weren't marked the way graves were. Even the trees seemed too tall and too many, closing in on the manor. They added to the sense of... foreboding.

She was not welcome here. But then, she wasn't welcome anywhere else.

Her meeting with the headmistress was brief. Scarcely had she sat down before the thin, severe-looking woman was calling for the matron.

“These are all of your personal effects?”

Namine's bag was before her in a limp hold. She hadn't actually brought much, aside from a sketchbook and some pencils. “Yes, ma'am.”

“Very good. Girls with an excess of clutter often find it difficult to keep track of their things.”

The dorm mother had a sinister air of her own, her syrupy manner leaving a bad taste in Namine's mouth that told her she could turn sour in a flash. Both women were prim with barely-perceptible gray streaks in their black hair, but that was where the similarities ended.

So long as she kept her head down and did nothing to stand out, Namine told herself, everything would be fine. If there was ire to be inspired, she would be meek and small enough to slip away unnoticed. It was the only line of defense she expected to have... The only one that had kept her alive, this long.

The dormitories of the first year girls were at the highest level of the four-storey manor, where heat lingered and wind rattled loudest.

“Here we are, my dear,” the matron crooned, giving Namine a tidy folded bundle. The uniform, which Namine was eager to put on.

Don't stand out.

“Thank you,” she said softly. “Um, where do I change?”

“The facilities are right along here.” The matron placed a gentle hand on Namine's back, and gave a less-gentle push to walk her down the hall. “You'll be sharing with the other girls on this floor.”

Namine almost stumbled. “There's no privacy - ?”

“Is that a problem?” Her voice had gone up a just-audible octave, giving Namine the urge to shrink as though away from a slap.

“No... I was just surprised.”

“If you need it, I suppose we could have you moved,” the matron suggested silkily. “There are fewer girls in the upper years. It would mean getting special privileges to stay in their dorms.” She placed a delicate finger to her chin. “It may even mean having to move one of them up here with the younger girls, but if you feel you _must_ have more privacy...”

Don't stand out.

A little squirm of panic writhed in her chest. “No! No, that's fine, thank you... I don't need anything.”

She wasn't accustomed to other people... but she wasn't so sure she wanted to be alone, anyway. She'd learned to fear solitude.

The dorm mother smiled again, showing too many teeth. “I know you'll do very well here,” she assured Namine, steering her to the door of the communal washroom. “There you are, my lovely.”

“Thank you...”

Every 'thank you' felt like an apology. Namine was so determined not to do anything wrong...

She gently pushed the door open and watched the matron turn away to catch the shoulder of girl with exceptionally long blonde hair. Namine was on her own, now.

The communal washroom was different than she'd expected. There were little lockers for everyone's individual towels or clothes, numerous shower stalls, a few large bathtubs simply out in the open, and many stalls for the toilets. There were two different rows of counter tops, sinks inlaid into one and a mirror running across the length of the other. A group of girls were seated or milling around them, blowing cigarette smoke out the open window. The ones who weren't smoking were chatting so loudly that it echoed off the tiles.

The thick stench of tobacco made Namine feel a little sick, but she simply avoided looking their way and found where she was supposed to undress. Her simple dress fell, pooling around her ankles.

One of the girls threw her head back with such a mad giggle that it was practically a cackle. Namine flinched.

It was unrelated... She didn't think the girls could even see her, where she was standing.

Still, she dressed herself quickly. The uniform skirt was long and pleated, and the accompanying blouse a crisp white. It was very plain, but truth be told, Namine liked plain.

There were faint hissing sounds as the girls flicked the cigarette butts into the toilets, and the girl who'd laughed – a petite, short-haired brunette – led the pack to the door. Namine's hands moved quicker over the buttons, doing her shirt right up to the high lace-necked collar.

The girls left, and Namine let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. She was alone.

… Alone...

She wasn't back at home, anymore. There was nothing to fear. Even so, she snatched up her dress and bag and hastened to the door, stopping only to look around at the shadows.

All was still.

Namine's teeth scraped over her bottom lip anxiously, and she slipped out of the room to find her dorm.

  


* * *

  


Dinner was an uncomfortable affair. There were not very many girls boarding at the Academy – only a few dozen – which drew all the more attention to a new arrival at their table. Namine allowed the dorm mother to introduce her without a fuss, but made no attempt to connect or speak with the girls she sat down with. She wasn't sure she knew _how_ to socialize with people her own age; she never had before.

And... she could feel their eyes. Namine could feel when someone was looking at her, and no matter how discreet the girls thought they were, she always noticed.

After dinner, she followed the single file up the stairs to the dorm rooms and was the last to file into her own. She wrung her hands as she made her way towards the bed she'd been designated, her name appearing on a placard above it.

She felt someone staring, but she told herself that no one was. She knew she was lying.

The giggly girl from the bathroom was one of her dorm mates. She only stopped in long enough to take her hair out of the uniform braids, unruly strands springing up once they were freed, and then she was off. The others didn't seem to have any intention of going anywhere; six to a room, in total, which made for four girls she had to adjust to in the following hours before bed. Who knew if the fifth would come back in time, for if Namine had to guess, not everyone followed the rules to the letter.

Two of the girls were giving Namine curious looks before burying themselves in their respective homework – a book for one, and a tray full of compartmentalized silverware for the other. Half the spoons inside were twisted up, and the book appeared to be written in runes. The blonde Namine had seen earlier merely sat cross-legged on her bed and began to brush out her hair with great expertise, but the last...

She had dark red hair, and was exchanging idle conversation with the others girls in the room. She was also looking at Namine every time she thought no one would notice.

Slowly, Namine folded her legs up on her bed and withdrew her sketchbook from her bedside table. Having only arrived that day, she hadn't attended any of the lessons and had nothing to practice. Drawing was the only solace she had.

Any sense of peace was not destined to be, however.

The redheaded girl was trying to catch the eyes of any of the others, anxiously wondering if anyone had thought yet to warn the new girl what would inevitably be coming, when _she_ arrived.

“Knock, knock...”

A girlish voice preceded the slender blonde, and fear spread through the room like a chill. Every single one of them knew that voice, except...

Namine didn't look up from her sketchbook, assuming – hoping – that whoever she was, the new stranger had come looking for someone else, and would depart quickly.

“Everyone -” the redhead spoke up, trying to get a handle on the situation before it was too late, but the opportunity had already past.  Her skin took on a pale blue halo, its color as icy as the atmosphere had become.

Slowly, Namine lifted her head.

The newcomer sauntered past the first few occupied beds. “It's the welcoming party, come to say hello. You could look a little more friendly, new girl.”

“Hello, Larxene,” the redhead greeted quietly, mind furiously at work.

“Yes, hello, princess,” Larxene sneered dismissively, and swept down to sit on Namine's bed. Convulsively, she held her sketchbook to her chest.

The girl bending spoons had stopped, eyes flickering constantly between Namine and Larxene, and the reading girl buried her face more determinedly into the pages. No one was interceding on her behalf, and Namine didn't expect they would.

“I came down here just for you! Smile,” Larxene's own widened, and her finger tapped the bottom of Namine's chin. The uninvited touch made her wince. “What's your name?”

“... Namine.”

The redhead twitched, as though she was trying to contain something, but she was still keeping her head down just as every other girl was. She could feel flashes of their rationale – guilt, but acceptance. Everyone expected this to simply... happen.

Larxene was a bully. The eldest, the most experienced. And the cruelest, by far.

“You're not smiling,” Larxene's eyes narrowed.

Namine made an attempt to, but it was shaky. She felt like a mouse being sized up by a snake, and she had a sure sense that standing up to Larxene would only provoke her into striking.

Don't stand out. If she just cooperated, kept quiet... She'd lose interest.

“ _Much_ better. I bet you want friends, don't you?” Larxene tilted her head and placed her hands on Namine's shoulders, fingers digging in one digit at a time.

Namine's heart stuttered. Her nails were sharp, burying into the fabric of her shirt with a slow, burning ache.

Unable to keep herself contained in bed any longer, the redheaded girl rose, glowing brighter and speaking up strongly. “Larxene -”

“Don't you?” Larxene snapped, speaking over Namine's would-be savior.

She was expected to answer. Namine's breath rattled against her vocal chords. “Well-...”

“What kind of witch are you?” She demanded abruptly, “I ought to know.”

Namine had feared no question more than that one.

“I... don't know...”

“Larxene, she just got here,” the redhead defended. Larxene continued not to look her way, too pointedly in her manner for anyone to think she hadn't heard.

“She has some idea of what she can do. She wouldn't _be here_ , otherwise.”

“I don't – I don't know,” Namine stammered. “My parents sent me, I didn't really get a say -”

“Oh, poor thing,” Larxene cooed. “You're just a freak.”

The redheaded girl's hands sparked with uncontrolled magic, the fear that was pressing in on her thoughts starting to cloud them completely. “Sh-she might not want to talk about it.”

Namine's eyes were fixed on the floor, shoulders squared. “... I -”

“How about this. I'll show you mine if you show me yours,” Larxene suggested, removing one of her hands and flexing it. “I'll even go first.”

The redhead's mouth dropped open, but her protest got stuck in her throat. Everyone else in the room remembered the affinity Larxene's magic had taken to, and no one wanted to witness what was to come.

Namine was all the more timid with creeping trepidation. “That isn't necessary... I really just don't kn -”

Larxene had withdrawn a knife from inside her sleeve. Namine halted, eyes going wide.

“Oh, come on,” Larxene scoffed, twirling it idly. It gleamed, sharp. “Don't tell me you're scared?”

“That's _enough!_ ”

The redhead had forced her voice through the blockade of terror. It was then Larxene seemed to decide she could ignore her no longer, and she turned on the girl with anger flashing over her face.

“Oh, come _on_. I'm playing.”

Blue magic sprayed from the redhead's fingertips and sprawled across the floor, but she glared through the terror. “Y-you don't have to be so hard on her.”

Larxene laughed – sharp and cold. Leaning into Namine, the point of the knife grazed her chin. “Aw, are you _afraid_ , little freak?”

She was. She was, but she'd known worse fear than this. This was just... bullying. It was nothing.

Namine summoned the only words she could. “Please – leave me alone.”

“Aw...” the knife tip skimmed her skin as Larxene rose to her considerable height. “So you don't want to be friends. Fine.”

Immobile, Namine stared with round eyes. She could still feel the prickle of phantom pain.

“Enemies it is,” Larxene commented, sauntering back towards the door.

The redheaded girl rushed to shut it after her. The blue light faded and tension left her chest, leaving her gasping for breath. Anxiety still jumped around the room like electric currents, but she wasn't picking up the overall sense of dread, anymore.

Except, for Namine, a whole new type of fear had moved into the hole Larxene had hollowed out. It was worse than feeling people look at her – she could see them doing it, too. Every pair of eyes on her, peeking over books or staring openly.

She couldn't follow Larxene, but she wanted to escape. Needed to escape the eyes.

But she _couldn't_ go anywhere. Namine could almost feel the chains wrapping around her fragile body, digging in and holding her in place. Her arms locked to her sides, the panic attack crawling up from the pit of her icy stomach and into her throat.

The girl had turned from the door to face Namine, beginning to approach her bed when the edges of her skin started to blacken. She gasped, rigid where she stood..

“Kairi?!” the brunette bending spoons bolted upright and hurried over, taking deep breaths herself. “Everyone, be calm! She needs to clear her head...”

Namine heard the girls scrambling as though they were all very distant. Her vision was going gray, then dark.

She couldn't let it go dark. There were things within the dark.

Black crept over Kairi's vision and she breathed laboriously, not knowing _any_ feeling like this. “S-someone,” Kairi panted, “She's panicked, she's losing her mind!”

The long-haired blonde clambered off her bed, her bare feet barely making a sound on the wooden floor as she dashed over. With a resolute pout, she took Namine by the shoulders and gave her a firm shake. When that wasn’t enough, she drew back and squared her shoulders.

“I’m really sorry for this.” Her hand swung back, held high, and even she flinched when it came down.

The crack echoed. Namine’s cheek was already turning red.

It jarred her back to reality. For a moment, Namine felt nothing.

Kairi shuddered in what seemed to be pain, but she breathed again and whatever was hurting her seemed to melt away.

“Is she back, Olette?” The girl who'd shaken her looked anxiously looked to the brunette.

“... I think we're okay... Kairi?”

Still silent, Namine found her bearings enough for a feeling of utmost mortification to wash over her. Her eyes burned with burgeoning tears.

Kairi's black aura had morphed into a soft pink. She exhaled and shook her head. “I'm okay... Ugh, every time Larxene shows up, my head gets so messed up...”

“She's just a bully,” Olette declared. “We all need to learn to keep our heads around her.”

Wordlessly, Namine slipped off her bed. Larxene surely couldn't be out there, still, and she had to get away. The bathroom, or somewhere more secluded if she could find it.

“Namine -?”

She ignored Kairi when she called after her, fleeing to the door and escaping into the hallway. Already, the world felt brighter, less threatening... which was perhaps nonsensical, as the lights in the hallway were out. It was nearly curfew, and they'd all be expected to be in their dorm for the dorm mother to do her nightly check-in soon enough.

To her surprise, though, she was followed.

“You can't leave now!” Kairi whispered frantically, hurrying out the door after her.

She didn't know what to do. Flattening herself against the wall, Namine tried to blink back the tears she couldn't hold in. “I'm sorry -”

Kairi caught up to her with ease, the pink tinge to her skin still present but masked by the dusky gray it was becoming. “We can't do this here,” she hissed. “Matron will be by any minute.”

“I-I can't be in there, with them watching...”

Her gaze turned steely. “Okay,” she said, and grabbed Namine's hand.

Before she'd registered what was happening, Namine was running down the corridor with Kairi, overwhelmed and startled and unsure. She didn't know this girl any better than she knew Larxene, and couldn't know whether or not she was pulling a cruel trick. Kairi didn't stop long enough to give anything away, though, ushering them both down the flight of stairs and into the nook under them.

Kairi pressed a finger to her lips. Namine went still, head spinning.

After a minute of listening hard, Kairi relaxed and murmured, “No one's out. This is where we go if we want to talk after curfew... At least, it is now. We change it every so often in case the teachers get word of it.”

Not sure what she could say, Namine just nodded.

“I'm sorry I didn't warn you about Larxene,” Kairi whispered. “She does this to everyone.”

Somehow, Namine had thought as much. If she did as she planned, then... Kept her head down, stayed out of the way, she'd leave her alone. She _had_ to leave her alone. “... Is there any way to avoid her?”

Kairi sighed. “Everyone gets a hard time from her at least once, and after that you just have to stay out of her way and try not to act afraid of her. She likes to go after weak ones...”

Namine avoided her gaze. That sounded like she'd be Larxene's ideal type of target no matter what she did, then. “I see.”

Curiosity niggling at her, Kairi gently changed the subject. “You really don't know what your gift is?”

Slowly, Namine shook her head.

“That's okay. I didn't really understand mine until you got here, either. Just that I was easily upset, and sometimes when I was... I could do things. Once I came here, I figured out it wasn't my emotions doing it, it was everyone else's.”

“Wow...” Namine breathed. “Like an empathic conduit.”

“You know your stuff.” Kairi looked vaguely admiring.

“Oh – not really, I just... I've read a lot about...”

“I can show you, if you want.”

Through her hesitation, Namine nodded. “Okay.”

Kairi raised her arms. “What are you feeling right now?”

“... Embarrassed.”

“That explains this.” Kairi showed off her pink glow.

“It changes according to moods, then,” Namine observed. “Like an aura?”

Kairi nodded. “It means I can do this,” she said, and surrounded them in warmth with a flick of her fingers.

“Oh -” Pleasantly surprised, Namine soaked it up and felt the warmth touch the chasm her self-consciousness and fear left behind. Kairi grinned.

“It isn't the same color for everyone, though,” she murmured, smile fading. “For instance, most people's sadness or loneliness is a light gray... Yours was black.”

Namine avoided her eyes, and thought of that black room and the chains.

“It was like nothing I've ever seen,” Kairi went on.

“Sorry...”

She shook her head. “Anyway, we can wait here until you've calmed down.”

“Thank you,” Namine mumbled. Another expression of gratitude that felt like an apology as it rolled off her tongue.

“I'd do it for any newbie.”

“Of course... I appreciate it.” Namine wished her heart would stop beating so fast.

Trying to lighten her mood, Kairi told her, “Just don't keep me around if you're trying to stay out of trouble. I'm a dead giveaway.”

Namine managed a tiny smile, earning her another gentle grin in turn. They sat together under the stairs as Kairi focused on shutting out the colors of everyone around her, and as Namine tried to slow her heart rate.

Just the echo of Kairi's spell helped, but Namine thought it may even have been more than her memory doing the work. Kairi's overall demeanor was just... warm.

  


* * *

  


Namine had managed to go to bed telling herself she would have no more reason to worry, only to be proven wrong in her first few classes.

She had unequivocally failed to accomplish anything in a single one of her lessons. Divination, spell-casting, telekinesis or telepathy – they had all eluded her talent, compounding the suggestion that she hadn't any to begin with. There were murmurs through the morning from her classmates, and as the day went on, the murmurs became audible conversation.

In a strange way of showing decency, some of the girls were keeping to whispers. As Namine walked out of a classroom to find somewhere to spend her afternoon break, the sociable one of her roommates – Selphie, she'd heard her called – stood among her usual cluster of girls, who all stopped talking at her approach. The moment Namine passed, they began hushing each other's giggles, leaving her without a single doubt about the source of their amusement. Olette was among them, as well, watching after Namine in confused disbelief.

No one thought she belonged here. Namine wondered it, herself.

Before, she'd been schooled at home, her interactions with children had all been the same. They ostracized her and called her names – 'witch', most commonly of all. The entire town knew that her family was strange, that no one talked to those strange folk up the hill and that they didn't talk back, either.

Namine had found her mother's books on witchcraft when she was eight years old. She'd been forbidden to read them, but found them to be a source of comfort like nothing else was – if she was different, after all, why shouldn't she embrace it? Why couldn't she at least _have_ what made her a freak, in the eyes of the people? She'd read them by moonlight or candle, whenever she could sneak one out of the library.

And then she'd grown old enough to know better. She'd grown old enough to be punished.

She'd stopped sneaking out books.

All of that seclusion and loneliness, and it was starting to look as though Namine wasn't even a witch, after all. Breathing deeply, she closed her eyes and wished. Wished to be somewhere else, or wished to belong – she didn't even know which.

Namine collided with someone.

“Ooh, _ow_. Shouldn't you watch where you're going?”

Larxene had appeared from nowhere – from around the corner, in truth, having been awaiting an opportunity just like this. Namine felt the impact pretty hard, but the cold cut of realization hit much harder.

“Agh -”

She hadn't even had enough time to collect herself, to form words. Larxene's fingers twined in Namine's hair and tugged. “What poor manners. Shouldn't you apologize?”

“I'm sorry – I am...”

“Are you, though?” Larxene cooed. “Maybe if you were a little better at tarot... crystal gazing... anything? Maybe you would've seen this coming. But I feel like you aren't really _trying_.”

She was shoved into the wall. Namine winced. “I'm -”

“Why don't I tutor you?” Larxene interrupted. “Lesson one can be telekinesis.”

Namine's breathing started to quicken. Struggling wouldn't do her much good – she'd always been fragile, undersized, and Larxene was much more powerful than she. And, once again, Larxene had taken out that knife. Anything she could do to protect herself would be a risk, all on its own.

Larxene shushed her with a clicking tongue. “Don't worry, little freak. I won't cut you.”

Idly, she began to toss the knife into the air. Once. Twice. She caught it by the blade, and squeezed.

At once, Namine felt searing pain across her palm and she cried out, as shocked as she was wounded.

“Oh, oops. Did that hurt?”

Leaving late, Kairi exited the classroom after a lingering discussion with their teacher; the diversity of her powers made her somewhat of an overachiever, and she'd been eager to discuss the abilities a newfound method of channeling had given her. When she noticed the familiar way the other girls were pressed to the wall, though, she knew Larxene had to be tormenting someone. No one ever wanted to be the one to get in the way.

But she recognized the scream.

Blood slipped through Namine's fingers, the damage rending delicate muscle. Tears had reflexively risen to her eyes, but they didn't spill – she would not let them spill “Stop – I didn't _do_ anything -” she pleaded, trying to push Larxene away.

“You really are so rude,” Larxene tutted, and tossed the knife again. “You should thank me for trying to help.”

The blade sliced her fingertips, and left no wound on Larxene. The skin split on Namine's hand.

“Put it down, Larxene.”

Kairi had arrived, skin blotted out in blue and black. Namine trembled, and the unanticipated intervention shook her control. The tears fell.

“To the rescue again?” Larxene sounded almost bored.

“You've done enough,” Kairi told her firmly.

“Hardly. She can't even repel a teeny knife, so we have more studying to do.”

Keeping control over herself was proving more taxing. Kairi put a hand to her forehead, feeling like it was in danger of splitting apart.

Namine's tunnel vision was closing in, and in her panic, the tears started to flow down her cheeks without end, wetting the collar of her shirt and sticking stray pieces of her hair to her face. It couldn't be, but – there it was, behind Larxene. A gaping, shadowy hand groping out towards them both, protruding from the wall like a broken bone -

Sound disappeared like cotton had been pressed in on Kairi's ears. With a spastic twitch, sparking energy burst forth and collided with Larxene at full force. Unprepared, Larxene was shoved back and the knife slipped from her grip.

It ought to have hurt her, but there was no pain. Instead, it was dispersed among everyone in the area, giving both Namine and Kairi a vicious case of tremors for a few irrecoverable seconds.

“I didn't think the little princess would want a fight,” Larxene seethed.

Instinctively, Kairi ran forward to grab the knife, holding it behind her back. The awareness of the punishment she could get for being caught with it was temporarily abandoned.

“What are you gonna do, stab me?” Larxene shook the twitch out of her hand. “I'd love it if you did.”

Unable to hear herself, Kairi spoke so loud that her voice resounded off the walls. “You don't need this one back. You've got a whole collection.”

Larxene sneered. “Well, you've got _that_ right. Hey - !”

Namine had regained her ability to breathe, and slipped away from the wall. There was nothing else she could do but run.

On impulse, she caught Kairi's free hand.

Kairi didn't even stumble. Too many emotions were hitting her at once to allow shock into the mix, and instinct told her to run as hard and fast as she could. Neither of them heard what Larxene shouted after them as they ran past the clusters of astonished girls.

At the end of the corridor, Kairi abruptly took the lead, her knowledge of the manor's layout better. Her hand managed not to leave Namine's despite the slickness of blood making their fingers slip.

In what felt like the blink of an eye, they'd reached the grounds with lungs afire. Releasing Namine's hand, Kairi threw the knife into a nearby hedge as though it had been red hot before she doubled over, panting. She supported herself with her clean hand on her knee, but Namine, not wanting to stain her uniform and catch a punishment for it, did not have that luxury. Instead she sank into a crouch, hugging her knees while she tried to catch her breath.

After a moment, Kairi let herself fall back into a sitting position. “I can't believe we survived that...”

“She... would really kill us?” Namine asked weakly.

“Well... no. I'm exaggerating,” Kairi panted.

Namine looked down at her bloodied hands. Every involuntary move of a finger pulled at the raw, ripped skin. “It doesn't feel like an exaggeration.”

“Is it bad?” Kairi pushed herself over to inspect the damage.

“It still hurts a little... More, when I move my hand...” She was downplaying it. Namine hated how weak she must have seemed, to have done nothing but cry and whine in Kairi's presence.

“I can't do any healing magic... but I know how to patch someone up after dealing with Larxene.”

“You keep helping me,” Namine noted quietly.

“Well, no one else is doing it, are they?”

“That doesn't mean you have to.”

Kairi raised her eyebrows, nonplussed. “Are you trying to tell me not to help you?”

“No, I – I'm trying to say... thank you.”

It was the first time she'd said it with the words feeling right.

“It's nothing.” Kairi dusted off her clean hand and extended the bloodstained one to Namine. “We should clean that up.”

Nodding slowly, Namine tentatively accepted the help. Kairi led them around the outside of the building first, checking through windows to find out whether the coast was clear.

While Kairi investigated, Namine thought. She was scared to wonder whether or not Kairi was her friend.

She'd be her very first. What a friend to have, Namine thought; she'd been nothing but kind, she was interesting and intelligent. She was very pretty, Namine observed, with smooth skin and silky hair. It shone when she took it out of the braids.

If this did make them friends, it was a very unbalanced camaraderie. Namine saw her own guilt reflected in the muddied sheen to Kairi's skin.

“Okay, this way,” Kairi prompted, leading her to a different door than the one they'd escaped out of. It took them towards the kitchens, and through there they reached the room in which they washed up before meals; it was nothing more than rows upon rows of sinks.

“Oh, clever,” Naming breathed. No one would think to bother them until dinner time, and they'd be done long before then.

Giving her own hands the quickest rinse, Kairi turned to guide Namine's under the thin running stream. “Let's see that hand.”

Kairi supported her wrists as Namine held them there, watching the blood thin and flow down. Cleaned, the wounds looked like thin, gaping lines – they could have been mistaken even by her palmistry professor. The knife had been razor-sharp.

“Doesn't look like anything's seriously damaged,” Kairi consoled her. “I think she was probably working you up with small stuff.”

“She isn't going to stop, then,” Namine murmured. “Is she.”

Kairi didn't answer right away. “... I think we should stick together. She loves going after girls that are on their own a lot.”

Namine's heart leapt. “... I'd really appreciate that.”

She smiled at her. “Still, there's going to be some kind of backlash. She hates it when her victims get away...”

“I can stand up to her... It's easier if I'm not alone.”

“Well, you're not alone,” Kairi declared. She watched the last of the blood thin under the water before turning off the tap.

“You're very kind.”

“This place needs more kindness,” she replied.

“I couldn't agree more...” With a soft sigh, Namine risked drawing more blood to the surface to test the mobility of her hands.

“You'll have to go to the nurse for bandages and healing salve. Do you want me to show you?”

“Thank you... I'm still not sure I know the layout yet...”

“Follow me.” Kairi began to take them to the door, but paused. “Oh, but don't tell the nurse how you got those. You don't want her to know you were in a fight.”

“It doesn't seem fair,” Namine said, but nodded.

“It's how it is. Tell her... tell her you were mirror gazing and you saw a bad omen and dropped it. That happens sometimes.”

“Do you think they'll believe me if I tell them the bad omen was Larxene?”

Kairi stared at her in utter disbelief, then burst into giggles. Naming began to smile.

“I'd better be a little more vague...”

“Maybe,” Kairi continued to snicker.

The aura had become the palest yellow, like sunshine.


	2. Chapter 2

Until the sky took on the familiar reddish cast of sunset, the girls of the Academy were allowed to mill around the grounds on weekends. The natural light and fresh air put life back into Namine, after a hard week of disappointments and unpleasant surprises. She'd gone outside following breakfast to find a nice place to sit, her sketchbook and pencils in her arms.

She chose to sit at the base of one of the monoliths decorating the front yard, the one she associated the least with a gravestone. It cast just enough of a shadow to keep the sunshine out of her eyes while still lighting up the pages as she drew one thing after the other.

If she could just put the images down onto paper... perhaps they would stop plaguing her dreams.

The faceless creature on the page was a solid mass from the waist down, its skin peeling like wilting flower petals and hands like scythe blades. They extended towards her as though they could reach right out of the page, hulking and shadowed and threatening.

Namine's eyes were glazed, faraway in thought. Why was she thinking of this now, when the hand she'd seen the other day... It had belonged to something else. She knew it from somewhere, but...

As she shaded in the creature's broad body, she thought she could hear the sound it made as it moved. The heavy thud of sharp hands digging into the wood, the scrape of skin stripping itself from the floor as the thing dragged, pulled its body along through the floor...

She flipped the page, and the phantom noise stopped. She relaxed.

In a dress of pink and white eyelet lace, Kairi came down the front steps of the building and stopped in front of the bushes lining the stone walls. Spotting Namine, she uprooted a nearby flower of snow white with a grin, and started to walk in a wide arc around to avoid detection. One by one, she plucked the petals and collected them in her hands.

Creeping up around the large stone, Kairi came up behind Namine and released the petals, letting them flutter down onto her head and into her lap.

Namine jumped, tilting her head up and starting to giggle when realized who it was and what Kairi had just done. For a second... just a second, she'd expected -

“Good morning,” Kairi greeted, pleased. She'd been momentarily concerned she'd scared her.

“Good morning. I like your dress.” Namine wished she'd dressed in something other than her uniform – on weekends, they were permitted to. Still, she only had the one dress, and she thought she'd have been embarrassed to be seen in it.

“Thank you.” Kairi smoothed her skirt under her, sitting down beside Namine. “My mother thinks I'm too old to still be wearing things like this, but she doesn't need to know _everything_ that goes in my luggage.”

Namine smiled softly. “It's very pretty. I guess parents don't _always_ know what they're talking about.”

“More often than you think,” Kairi giggled. Namine closed her sketchbook, some of the petals becoming trapped between pages.

“What are your plans for the day...?”

“Well...” Kairi folded her hands in her lap. “I was thinking of walking in the garden... And if I bumped into to you, showing you around some more.”

“I haven't seen the gardens yet...”

Kairi beamed. “Perfect. We'll do both.”

Spending time with someone rather than keeping her nose in her sketchbook sounded like a wonderful way to pass the weekend, but she'd assumed Kairi would have other friends she'd prefer to be around. Namine's heart felt lighter, elated as she picked herself up and smoothed out her skirt. Her sketchbook was tucked under her arm.

“Do you have things you like to wear?” Kairi made conversation.

“Not really. I've never been very fashionable.”

“You must like something beyond our uniform.”

Namine let herself think about it. “I guess... I like white.”

“See?” Kairi looked triumphant. “I knew there was something.”

“I like simple styles too, I think,” Namine went on, encouraging Kairi's satisfaction. “Nothing too... flashy. I don't have the presence to look good in those sort of things, not like you.”

“We'll see about that,” she declared, and linked her arm with Namine's. The empathic aura she exuded glowed sunset pink as Namine's cheeks turned a similar, fainter shade.

She felt so... warmed, by Kairi's presence.

“... So, um, how big are the gardens?”

“Not as big as I'd like them to be,” Kairi replied. “The gardens at my family's summer cottage are so large and lush you can feel like you've gone to another world.”

“You have a summer cottage?” Namine marveled.

“Oh,” Kairi hesitated. “Does that make me sound stuck up?”

“Oh, no – I didn't mean it that way. It sounds... glamorous.”

“I don't know about that... but it is one of my favorite places to be.”

“It sounds lovely,” Namine murmured.

“You could see it one day.”

Her eyes widened. “Really?”

“If you'd like to, and have permission,” Kairi offered genuinely. “I've never brought a friend home on breaks, but it would be nice to have someone around. Someone... my own age.”

Namine was even pinker in the face. “I'd love that.”

Kairi smiled. “Break is a long way off, in any case.”

Nodding, some of Namine's cheer diminished and became gloom. “I hope I'm still attending, by the time it comes around.”

“You think you won't be?” Kairi blinked.

“I have a feeling that they'll send me home if I don't show any magical ability, soon...”

“That can't be true,” Kairi insisted. “You must have shown magical promise to be here.”

“... I didn't.” Namine's eyes lowered. “My mother just... decided, one day, that I should come here. She did, at my age.”

“... Oh.” Kairi faltered, and cleared her throat. “I'm sure that means you have magic in you. It does run in families.”

“Maybe so, but if that's true... Why haven't I accomplished anything?”

Kairi's mind worked fast. “Maybe... Maybe you have a power that's so rare, they haven't tried the right thing to unlock it.”

Though she doubted it, Namine appreciated her saying so enough to smile. “Thank you.”

Kairi sought a different topic, guiding them around the manor to the immense topiaries. “Do you have a garden?”

“We used to, but the plants withered over time,” Namine said. “The roses survived, though.”

“Just the roses?” Kairi frowned.

Namine nodded wistfully. “Even the grass has trouble growing.”

“That's unusual...”

“It's sad,” Namine thought aloud, but kept part of her ruminations to herself. The fact that, of all the flowers they'd once had, the roses were her least favorite. Something about them reminded her of heartbreak, or of sad occasions. She missed the daisies, the daffodils.

“It sounds like something caused by magical runoff,” Kairi encouraged.

“Then I wonder why-...” Namine winced. “If my magic is the kind that doesn't let anything grow, I want it even less than having none at all.”

Kairi could have kicked herself. “Right... you wouldn't, sorry.”

“I appreciate you trying to cheer me up, though,” Namine reassured her. Kairi smiled weakly.

“I just think you're giving up on yourself too soon.”

“... Maybe you're right.” It could be true, that she only had to keep trying before she'd persevere, but... Namine just didn't _feel_ like a witch. She didn't feel powerful.

Kairi paused to pick a flower from one of the nearby bushes, offering it to Namine. A flush coming to her cheeks, Namine accepted it, and began to smile again.

 

* * *

 

Lessons only continued to be a frustrating disappointment for Namine's teachers, and a source of utter despair for the girl herself. She found herself being held back after classes and drilled again and again on the most basic of telekinesis, only to be told after multiple failures that the headmistress would be told of her lack of accomplishment unless she succeeded soon. As much as she was let down, Namine wasn't surprised it had come to that.

Surely the conclusion the headmistress would reach was that she didn't belong here... and Namine wistfully agreed. Exiting the classroom with her head down, she was at least greeted by the only familiar face she'd come to associate with happiness.

Kairi had promised to wait for her, her skin taking on a gray tinge in reflection of Namine's despair. Upon noticing, Namine immediately tried to perk up, hating to be mopey in her presence.

“Ready to go?” Kairi smiled at her, linking their arms.

“Yes,” Namine replied, and walked with her side by side. “I saw you today, with that floating spell... It was amazing.”

Kairi laughed modestly. “I don't know. I couldn't have done it if Olette hadn't been so excited when she got it first.”

“It's impressive, you shouldn't minimize your achievements.”

“I'm glad it impressed you,” Kairi replied, pleased.

“Aren't you two just _so sweet_.”

They were interrupted, and Namine froze. Kairi's grip on her arm tightened as her breath caught. Neither of them had noticed Larxene milling behind the open door to a supply closet, twirling a knife as nonchalantly as though it were something innocuous.

Lifting herself from the wall, Larxene began to approach them. “Have you got crushes? Do you sneak off on little dates?”

“Leave us alone,” Namine tried to fend her off, determined not to show her worry, but her emotions were weakening Kairi. She didn't sound half as strong as she normally would when she chimed in.

“It's none of your business,” Kairi said quietly.

“My mistake, princess. I'll just borrow your girlfriend for a moment, shall I?” Larxene wrenched at Namine, who gave a little cry of shock as she was yanked out of Kairi's grip.

“Hey-!” Kairi grabbed for her, but lost her grip.

“C'mere, little freak,” Larxene crooned, pulling Namine along. “I have something to show you.”

“Let – _let_ go, stop!” Namine protested, the heels of her shoes skidding along the polished floor.

Kairi chased after them, the strong grip of secondhand fear like a blockade keeping her power from moving. “Just back off, Larxene!”

Larxene paid no heed. She hauled Namine forward, and shoved her into the broom closet. It was sealed instantly with a wordless spell, and Namine was enclosed in total darkness.

Kairi rushed forward, but stumbled with a step back as her skin radiated pitch black all at once.

“Now come on, freak,” Larxene laughed. “Think creatively. You can get yourself out, can't you?”

Uncertain of the space around her – how little or much of it there was, what was surrounding her – Namine began to panic. The sound outside was muffled to her ears, a rustling noise far more distinct to her ears. A hand started to wrap around hers, too smooth to be flesh but sharp with thorns, and a gaping hole in the palm simply an absence where the vines did not connect.

Outside, Kairi opened her mouth to tell Larxene to stop, but was choked by the black fear clogging her throat. Unable to breathe, she slowly collapsed to her knees. With a moan, she tried to pull herself up, the effort it took making it feel like she was dragging herself from a pit of tar.

Namine was able to dimly make out the spider-like creature as her eyes adjusted. The _thing_ was all thorny hands extending from its blooming center, the rose coming down with spreading petals. It was like a gaping maw descending to devour her, and Namine shrieked, her back colliding with the door Larxene was holding shut.

Kairi's vision went black, and Namine jerked so violently that she managed to throw herself out the door. She watched the rose retreat into the darkness, vanishing from sight.

Impacted by the door, Larxene staggered back with an indignant shout. “Agh-... _You little_ -...”

Twitching on the ground like she was having a fit, Kairi's hand abruptly extended as black lightning leapt from her fingertips. It collided with Larxene, who sparked and hissed with the electricity as she absorbed and redirected it.

Namine was breathing harshly, coming to grips with her surroundings again and looking for Kairi just as she was hit with the charge. “ _Ah!_ ”

As pain eclipsed terror, Kairi snapped out of the violent stupor she was in. Namine twitched into herself, gasping with the agony crackling under her skin.

Scowling, Larxene flicked sparks off her fingers. “You bold little bitches... I'm going to make sure you regret that.”

“Namine... run... you need help...” Kairi panted.

“You need more than help.” Larxene hauled Namine off the floor by her hair, and Namine's hands scrambled to pull her off, tearing up.

“ _No, no_...” Kairi pressed her hands to her temples, feeling like screeching saws were grinding in her head.

With difficulty, Namine managed to pull free of Larxene, only to choke on fear. The creature in the closet was starting to extend its thorny hands, creeping out of the doorway. Kairi didn't hear herself scream, clutching Namine's arm, and the two of them were stumbling away, trying to run.

Kairi's only clear thought was of certainty they were about to die when, suddenly... they weren't there anymore. Their surroundings had changed, and neither of them slowed for a few paces until they started to orient themselves again. No less afraid, Namine looked to every shadow, sure that each one meant danger.

Larxene and the closet were nowhere around. Light streamed in from the circular window, the walls and floor both a light wood. The space was expansive, old classroom supplies stacked neatly amidst dusty shelves of extra blankets and other such living necessities.

Shakily, Kairi observed, “It looks like the attic...”

Namine wound up clinging to Kairi as her legs gave out, gasping through tears and burying her face against her. Unable to hold her up for long, Kairi sank to her knees next to her, holding Namine.

She spoke through shock, voice a little thick. “I've never done that before...”

Shaking, Namine was unable to find her voice. The last few minutes looped through her mind.

She wondered if the monstrous rose was still down there. She wondered if anyone could have even seen if but her.

It wasn't the first time she'd been attacked in the dark, and knowing her fortune, it wouldn't be the last. Still, Namine had no idea whether or not the things that came for her were even real. If they were a product of her imagination, how was it that her hand still felt the sting of the thorns? How had she been able to smell the dusky floral perfume of its breath?

If it was real... How had it found her? She wasn't in the basement, anymore.

Kairi laughed tremulously, and Namine held her more tightly, finally lifted her eyes.

“I-... Maybe we should stay here for a while,” Kairi suggested, forcing herself calm. “Larxene won't be able to find us.”

Namine just nodded when words failed her, wiping her eyes.

“... It really scared you.”

She squeezed her eyes shut, ashamed.

“It's not just fear, is it?” Kairi asked. “I can feel it. It's so cold it hurts. It tastes like dirt and dust and copper...”

Look up at her desperately, Namine felt something in her stomach settle. Fear sounded like such an infantile thing, the product of an immature imagination, but Kairi seemed to _understand_. The way she described it took the all-encompassing feeling outside of Namine, made it into a solid reality. It meant Namine wasn't being silly, or childish.

Kairi held her tighter. “There's no shame in feeling fear like that. It feels like... chains. So tight you can't move... can't breathe...”

Nodding a little, some of the pressure on Namine's lungs released.

“So, we'll just stay here,” Kairi swallowed. “As long as it takes.”

Namine tried to thank her aloud and buried her face against Kairi's shoulder when she failed. Kairi's fingers glided over Namine's hair, and the two of them stayed that way in silence.

 

* * *

 

Gently, Kairi nudged Namine with her shoulder. The light coming in through the window had turned orange, then faded into nonexistence some time ago. Kairi had been dozing and wasn't sure if Namine was as well, as she'd certainly been quiet enough to be.

Namine's meditation was unwillingly interrupted by the little nudge. She'd been in silent reflection the whole time, thinking about Kairi and the way she stood up for her. She wished they could be alone up here forever, even though she knew they couldn't.

“We should go,” Kairi said softly. “It'll be curfew soon, I think.”

Namine's heart sank a little. “... You're right.”

“I don't think Larxene will try anything more tonight. She'll be downstairs, so we shouldn't even pass her,” Kairi reassured her.

“I know...” Namine sat up a little. “I just wish we had more time, in general... Just, time for the two of us.”

Kairi felt her cheeks grow warm. “We'll get another chance.”

“You're right, of course...” Watching the floor, Namine reluctantly got to her feet. It was harder to see without the light of day, and Kairi found her hand to squeeze it once, searching in the darkness for the trap door.

Namine experienced something strange when they got the door open; she found herself dreading the light. The darkness up here, with Kairi by her side, had been strangely comfortable. The light below didn't herald anything good.

As quietly as she could, Kairi lowered the ladder and whispered, “After you.”

Namine managed a small smile before she began her descent. Kairi waited for her to reach the bottom before climbing down, herself. When her foot met the solid ground below, Kairi pushed the ladder back up with some difficulty and focused hard to make the trap door close itself.

Admiring the ease with which Kairi used her power, Namine made herself think of more sensible things. “Will we be in trouble for finding up there?”

“Only if we're caught,” Kairi replied wryly. Namine giggled softly, partly out of nerves, and Kairi took her hand again. “Come on.”

The two of them began to walk back to their dorm, and quickly noticed that something wasn't right. The halls were completely deserted. Kairi felt Namine tense, a sinking feeling leaving them both a little cold.

“It'll be okay,” Kairi murmured. “Just have to be quiet, and-...”

The words died on her tongue as they rounded the corner. The matron was standing directly in front of their dormitory door, her arms folded. “Ah,” she drawled, voice dripping with sickening sweetness. “I see you've finally decided to join your classmates.”

Shrinking immediately, Namine's hand slipped out of Kairi's.

“We-...” Kairi began.

“Oh, I know,” the matron halted her, chin high. “When you were found absent from your beds, a senior student came forward to tell us of your disappearance.”

“Larxene practically chased us up there,” Namine burst out.

“You could have called for the attention of a teacher.” Matron glared at Kairi. “This may be a school of magic, but we do not teach you to use your powers to sneak about after hours.”

Kairi bowed her head. “Yes, Ma'am...”

“... Of course, Ma'am...” Namine murmured.

“It won't happen again,” Kairi said.

“I expect, after a visit to the Headmistress, it won't,” the matron remarked smugly. Namine glanced nervously at Kairi, not sure how fretful to be, but her gaze was not met. Kairi swallowed hard and nodded, and the two of them followed meekly after the matron.

They were silent for the entire march down to the head office, and the sharp knock the matron gave to the door was such a jarring sound that Namine flinched. Her insides had started to squirm.

The door opened with a flick of a wrist, the headmistress sitting behind her desk with a grave look upon her face. The matron ushered the two girls inside, lingering in the doorway.

“We have located the two absentees, Madam,” she informed the headmistress.

“Thank you. You may leave us.” The headmistress rose slowly. The matron gave a respectful nod, but visibly smirked on her way out.

Namine's trepidation was starting to show up on Kairi's skin, but she spoke up despite herself. “Headmistress, it was my fault...”

“Silence. Sit.” The headmistress conjured two chairs, and the two girls took them immediately.

“I do not create these rules for my own satisfaction.” The headmistress put purposeful inflection upon every word, making them sharp and threatening. “Putting them into place in an exercise in trust – a contract between the girls of this Academy, and myself. You understand that.”

Kairi nodded meekly. Namine tried to imagine what sort of punishment the headmistress was leading up to.

“When you break that contract, you forfeit the right to that trust,” the headmistress went on, and picked up her staff.

Namine thought, for a second, that she was about to strike them. Instead, she began drawing slow circles in the air with the glittering orb atop the staff, the gleam unwillingly attracting the eye.

“You will obey,” the headmistress instructed softly. “You will follow my rules.”

With no choice but the stare into it, a feeling gripped Namine deep inside her chest, one she did not like. It was akin to... violation.

“You are falling under hypnosis... You are powerless. Free will has become secondary, lesser than your need to obey. Obey my rules. Obey _my_ word.”

All color drained from Kairi's skin, her eyelids drooping heavily. Namine continued to stare at the orb, feeling like something was being hollowed out of her.

The headmistress banished the staff once she was through, jolting Namine in the process. “Now... to bed,” she announced.

Kairi stood at once, not even looking at Namine as she drifted towards the door. Rising as well, Namine's feet took her automatically in the same direction, though she still had the consciousness to feel betrayed by her own self.

She could feel the hypnosis like a fog in her brain, something so thick that it was easy to get lost in. Still, Namine could navigate it when she really thought – when she thought of Larxene and the terrible things she would undoubtedly try to do, thought of the matron's air of sinister satisfaction, thought of the violating grasp of the headmistress's power. When she thought of Kairi, and wondered if she would even look at Namine again, much less be her friend while under the thrall of hypnosis.

Namine changed into her nightgown and crawled into bed, her body trapped under the blankets no matter how she resisted. She wanted to crawl into Kairi's bed, just to sleep beside her and know that someone cared about her safety. Know that someone would be aware of it, if and when the monstrous rose hanging from the ceiling above her bed came down for her.


	3. Chapter 3

Apart from a sense of light-headed fog the next morning, the effects of the hypnosis didn't seem to be lasting. That was what Namine thought.

It was different, for Kairi.

For the first few days, Namine thought that she was keeping her distance out of fear of further reprimand. She would try to meet Kairi's eyes in passing, offering a hopeful smile every time they happened to be walking in the same direction. If and when Kairi smiled back, it was the plastic smile of someone greeting a distant acquaintance.

Her behavior changed from being somewhat vacant to even more focused and outgoing than before. It was like her mind had been forcibly altered, a hole left in the place Namine used to be. By week's end, it was becoming too much to bear.

Namine needed to get Kairi alone. They needed to talk.

The rules were a little more lax just before the weekend, and Namine used that to her advantage. She took her time after class, surreptitiously watching Kairi all the while as they all packed up their things and made to exit the classroom. Summoning all her nerve to fight through her anxiety, Namine skipped forward to catch up to Kairi halfway down the hall.

“Kairi?”

“Hm?” Turning her head, Kairi smiled politely. “Good afternoon, Namine.”

She was already starting to turn away.

“Would you accompany me?” Namine asked in one rushed breath. “I... I want to get in more practice, and I couldn't ask for a better tutor than you...”

Kairi glanced back at her friends, attuned to the whispers among them that it was obvious Namine needed all the practice she could get. “... Certainly, as long as we finish before dinner.”

“Of course. We could, um, ask if any of the professors would let us use an empty classroom?”

Kairi pondered and began moving in the direction of one of the classrooms. “Professor Fauna is usually accommodating about this sort of thing.”

Her heart pounded fast with hope. Namine followed, her pace in step with Kairi's and slowing when she did.

“... Namine...?”

“Yes?” Namine wished she'd hold her hand, stroke her hair.

“What exactly is it you need to practice? It just occurred to me that Professor Fauna's classroom may not be appropriate for all crafts.”

Namine tried not to be disappointed. “U-um... I was thinking, telepathy?”

Kairi smiled, the same impersonal smile that she'd worn for a week. “Then there won't be a problem.”

“Yes... That's good...” It was no good. Namine's heart sank despite her admonitions that she was being silly.

Still... it was obvious to her now that she'd broken through the hypnotism, and though the method eluded her, Namine was certain Kairi could do the same.

Kairi knocked on the open door to Professor Fauna's classroom, their teacher tidying with flicks of her wand.

“Yes?” Fauna turned and beamed. “Ah, Kairi! Good afternoon. And Namine, hello.”

Her smile charming, Kairi said, “I'm giving Namine some extra help with her telepathy, and we were wondering if we could use your classroom for a little privacy.”

“Ah! Excellent – I'm glad to see you putting in the practice!”

Fauna had likely meant to be encouraging rather than embarrassing, but Namine's forced smile was directed at the floor.

“Just be sure to finish before dinner,” Fauna told them, flicking her wand once more to draw the curtains down halfway.

“Yes, Ma'am.”

Namine scuffed her shoe idly against the floor as Fauna left, breathing in slow and trying to order her thoughts. Kairi shut the door, and spoke kindly. “That's better.”

“... Kairi...” Namine bit her lip. “Do you still consider me a friend?”

It was the only place she could think to start.

Kairi blinked. “I suppose we're on friendly terms. But we really don't know each other well, do we?”

Namine shook her head emphatically. “

That's not true! I know you love flowers, and that you like pretty dresses but your mother thinks you're too old to wear them. You have a summer cottage that you invited me to stay at. You get this little crease between your eyebrows when you think you could have performed a spell better...” She was near tears. “And you know me. You know more about me than anyone ever has. You are... my best...”

Distress was reflected in the cloudy gray on Kairi's skin, and she started to frown, unnerved by how genuine it was. “I'm sorry, I don't know how you got that idea...”

Eyes wet, Namine curled her fingers against her palm, trying to force herself not to cry. “Your mind's been clouded... You can feel the truth, can't you?”

A little panicked the more she _did_ feel something, Kairi began backing towards the door. “I think you should ask someone else to tutor you.”

“Please listen-!” Tears rolled down Namine's cheeks, her efforts in vain. “... I can't bear having lost you. You do well with telepathy, I know you do... And your gift means you can sense my emotions. You know my head _and_ my heart – what are they telling you?”

Irrationally, Kairi's heart ached for her. “Please don't cry. I just-... I don't understand what you're saying...”

Reaching out, Namine stepped towards her cautiously. “May I...”

Kairi looked alarmed, but didn't move. Gently, Namine placed her hands over Kairi's temples, her fingers threading through her hair.

“... I want to find the Headmistress' influence... I want to clear it away.”

She tilted her head to gently rest it against Kairi's, and warmth spread from Namine's touch.

“You think the Headmistress did something...?”

“I know she did. I was there... She put us both under a spell.” Namine bit her lip, nervousness buzzing under her skin but _hope_ overcoming it. “And I can think of only one way to break the spell...”

Kairi's head spun, the skin shifting between colors as if the surface was water hit by light. “Um...”

Heartbeat up in her throat, Namine carefully, slowly, pressed her lips to Kairi's.

She was stunned still, her mind momentarily emptied of _everything_. Kairi let Namine kiss her, desperate but soft, lingering for the fear that parting would be the end of everything they had between them. She lifted a numb arm to rest her hand on Namine's shoulder.

Namine was fearful by the time she drew back, but also tingling a little. That had been the very first kiss she'd ever had.

Kairi stared at her, expression unreadable.

“... Kairi?” Namine said her name like a plea.

A delicate hand went to her head, and Kairi looked pained. “I'm so confused... It's like I have two pasts. I-... I remember...”

“You do?” Namine didn't think she'd breathed until that moment.

“Namine -”

Kairi cut herself off, eyes widening. A dark shape started to take form on the ceiling, entangled like a mass of vines. Namine followed her gaze, and the wind she'd regained was knocked out of her.

“No... Not again...”

The shape became spider-like, its body a mass of shadowy arms that stretched down towards them. Kairi leaped instinctively, bringing them both to the floor before it could touch them.

Disbelief overcame fear when Namine hit the floor. “Agh – You see it too?!”

“You mean you know -... What is that thing?!”

Namine let out a small shriek and dragged them under the desks just in time for the spidery beast's arms to spread out, revealing its toothy mouth. It resembled a Venus fly trap, fangs long and thin and sharp. It dropped down from the ceiling with a thud, mouth up and arms twisting.

With a scream, Kairi scrambled on hands and knees to keep as far away as possible. “The door, we have to get someone-!”

“We just have to get away!” Namine crawled under the desk, putting space between herself and _it_. It crawled forward rapidly, swiping for Kairi's ankle. Kicking frantically, Kairi's mind raced for a spell that could drive it back but she had no idea what she was fighting.

“No-! You want me, leave her alone-!” Namine cried, stretching out a hand.

It let go of Kairi's leg and turned on Namine instead, giving Kairi the chance to crawl deeper under the desks as they were shoved up against the walls.

“Don't!” Kairi crawled forward, following after Namine.

Namine slid back and rolled out from under a desk, staggering to her feet. “Kairi, run!”

“You can't fight this on your own!”

“I'm not going to – let's go!” Namine caught Kairi's arm as she clambered out from under the desks, and the two of them started to run. Kairi threw a shielding spell out behind them, just in time for the creature to spring at them and smash into it.

Sprinting for the door, Kairi threw herself into it when trying to fling it open didn't work. It didn't budge at all.

“No-! No, no, please...”

Namine could feel the room getting smaller, and the beast was trying to get through the barrier when moving around it seemed impossible. Kairi pounded her fist on the door and pulled frantically at the handle, only risking a glance over her shoulder once.

Her barriers weren't powerful enough to withstand a battering like that for more than a minute or two.

Namine slumped down to her knees, staring at the door in resignation.

“Stay with me, Namine, please,” Kairi begged, and tried to force all the desperation into a spell to blow the door open. The fear was too paralyzing, though, like thick tar pulling her down.

“It always gets me, in the end,” Namine whispered.

The beast shattered the barrier.

Namine choked on a sob, on Kairi's name. She heard Kairi shriek in panic and felt the moist, hot maw start to enclose around her.

Everything was dark.

Her own fear for Namine outweighed the terror she was picking up on, just for an instant, and it was enough. Kairi reached into the darkness with both arms to wrap around Namine, shutting her eyes.

They fell a stomach-dropping distance onto grass.

It took them both several moments to recover the ability to breathe, to open their eyes and recognize the school's garden path. Namine clung to Kairi with a dry sob, and too much bombarded her to make sense of. The only thing Kairi knew to do in that moment was hold on and whisper Namine's name.

Namine's voice was shaky when she regained it. “... Are we friends again?”

Kairi nodded weakly. “I'm so sorry... I could see everything I was doing, but I couldn't hear myself. Every time it was just...” she paused and gasped for breath. “Just _her_ voice.”

Shaking, Namine hugged her tightly.

“I'm sorry. I must have been so cruel...”

“No... No, it wasn't your fault.”

Kairi squeezed her one last time before looking over her shoulder. “That thing is still in there. We have to tell someone.”

Though she was filled with dread, Namine nodded. Kairi unwound from her, shaking almost too hard to stand but managing to get on her feet.

“Are you hurt?” Kairi asked.

“No...” Namine was slower to get up, trembling. Kairi offered her a hand up.

“We have to move fast,” Kairi urged her. “Come on, hurry!”

“Maybe-...” Namine started to speak, reluctant. If the professors found out that it had followed her here, would she be kicked out?

But she was afraid not to go.

They ran together, back inside and up the stairs towards Professor Fauna's classroom.

There were expressions of mild bewilderment when the two of them dashed up to the third floor, a few students lingering in the hallway and chatting without a care.

Already, Namine had a feeling. “Kairi -”

She was looking around slowly, a wild look of confusion and fear in her eyes. Kairi peered cautiously at the closed classroom door, expecting to hear something crashing into it the way the beast did against the barrier.

“It's gone...”

“Gone... how?” Kairi breathed.

“Just... gone.”

Lowering her voice, Kairi turned back towards Namine. “You've seen these things before. What are they?”

“I don't know...” Namine wiped sweat from her brow with the back of her hand, speaking softer. “But they've found me.”

“... We should go somewhere quieter.”

Kairi took her hand, and Namine nodded. They went up to their dorm in silence, Namine trying to leave shame behind. She couldn't stem the worry that Kairi wouldn't be her friend anymore once she knew.

It was a relief to see that none of the other girls were up here, no doubt spending time outside or with friends. Unable to wait for them to get comfortable, Kairi asked, “What did you mean, they followed you?”

Namine approached her bed and sank onto it. “... They used to appear in the basement. When I was bad, I-... it doesn't matter, but, I'd see them down there. They'd come for me.”

Kairi followed, and sat down beside her. “They sound like a curse. Do you know if anyone ever placed one on you?”

A fleeting, terrible thought crossed Namine's mind with the image of her mother's furious expression. “... I don't know.”

Eyebrows drawn together, Kairi drew her into another hug. They embraced tightly, giving each other a moment to sort out their thoughts and unknowingly landing along the same lines.

“... So, you kissed me.”

Namine's face burned. “I did... I'm sorry...”

Kairi shook her head. “I was wondering if that was just to snap me out of the trance...”

After a moment of silence, Kairi pulled back to see Namine's pink face. “Namine?”

“... I don't know what to say. I... I kissed you because I needed to. I _felt_ like I needed to. Not because of an enchantment, just because... it's you.”

Kairi leaned in slowly. Her lips just barely brushed Namine's.

Time stopped, and Namine met the kiss gently.

The two of them lingered on the kiss, all of the bad feelings from before rinsed out of them by the purity of it. Kairi was a little deflated with relief, parting from Namine's lips gradually.

“... That was okay?” Namine watched her shyly.

She smiled ruefully. “It was wonderful, and so are you.”

Namine was struck speechless, and Kairi basked in how she looked when stunned in a good way. She kissed Namine's cheek, reveling in the softness of her skin.

“... You're everything to me,” Namine confessed. “And I'm going to keep you safe from those monsters.”

Kairi clasped her hand. “I'm not going to let anything drive me away again.”

“Then we'll protect each other.”

“It's a promise,” Kairi confirmed. With the beginnings of a smile, Namine extended her little finger to loop around Kairi's.

“It'll be okay, now... We'll handle everything together.”

 

* * *

 

Moments had to be stolen in secret, unless they wanted the Headmistress to spot their renewed closeness. Kairi and Namine sat apart at dinner, during lessons. At night, though, they could stay awake long enough to sneak across the room to the other's bed, whisper to each other until they were too tired to speak, then curl up together until dawn. Even though the atmosphere purveying the Academy was more oppressive by the day, their nights were comfortable, warm. It changed the meaning of darkness; what used to be cold and lonely now heralded peace and contentment.

It was the only thing about the Academy that made Namine happy. Time with Kairi made up for all the difficulties she faced in class and the derision of her fellow witches.

If Namine could even call herself a witch.

They had all chosen an animal familiar that morning, some of the girls – like Kairi – having no trouble attracting and bonding with the animal who chose them. A bright red bird of paradise preened and groomed Kairi's hair, and she gave it a gentle stroke down its neck as she returned to her desk.

A nervous looking puppy sat on the delicate silver stool beside Professor De Vil and their teacher shooed the remaining students to their desks.

“Now girls, pair up with the student next to you. I expect you have all brought a personal item with you as instructed last class, without revealing to anyone what it is. This is an exceedingly simple exercise in seeing through the eyes of a familiar. One of your pair will blindfold herself, and her partner will place the item on the table. Using only the vision of her familiar, the blindfolded student will then be able to describe the item to the class.”

Kairi turned to Olette and grinned, the two of them often paired together in this class. Olette's tabby cat had gotten comfortable in her lap, and she was reluctant to usher her up to the desk. Across the room, Namine envied Olette and turned to her reluctant partner.

She didn't have much in the way of personal items and had almost forgotten to fulfill her assignment, her mind more often occupied with monster-related anxiety. Glancing at her dove, Namine wondered if it would have mattered one way or the other, because she had absolutely no idea how to do this.

Professor De Vil called on pair after pair until she reached Kairi and Olette, the latter girl tying her blindfold first. Kairi placed her item on the table in front of her.

It was a heavy comb made of polished silver, the handle crafted into floral shapes. She considered the comb very special, as she'd used it to brush and braid Namine's hair every night since her hypnosis broke.

“Hm...” Olette concentrated, her cat's eyes fixed on the table. “I can almost make it out. It's-... Oh, it's a comb!”

“That's right,” Kairi confirmed with a smile. Professor De Vil nodded in approval.

“You may remove the blindfold now.”

Olette reached up to untie it and Kairi took that as her cue to place her own over her eyes. She closed them underneath the thick black cloth, just to make sure she wouldn't end up straining to see through it anyway.

Her bird cocked its head, and after about ten seconds Kairi started to laugh. Olette had put a twisted spoon down onto the table so gently that it hadn't made a sound. “It's one of your spoons!”

“My very first!” Olette laughed, and a few of the other girls applauded.

“Correct. Moving on.” De Vil impatiently called to the next pair. With every student that went through the exercise, Namine's heart sank a little lower.

She gleaned nothing from observation. Kairi gave her an encouraging nod when Professor De Vil came to her table, but that wasn't enough to bolster her confidence. Namine tried not to squirm as she tied her blindfold.

The world went dark. She closed her eyes and wished for this to work.

Namine tried to find her dove with her mind, and imagined how humiliating it would be if it'd turned out the bird had flown off to some corner of the classroom. She tried to stop focusing on her own eyes, and let her senses drift.

The silence lengthened until a couple of girls started to giggle. Namine felt herself blushing and begged herself to just _do_ it.

The piece of gnarled wood on the table lay there, and the dove fluttered to perch on top of it. Kairi's skin turned red, tinted with gray until the color looked sickly, and she fidgeted in her seat.

Professor De Vil raised an eyebrow and asked with clear derision, “Are you having difficulty describing the item?”

Kairi cringed as the giggles got louder.

“... I can't see it,” Namine said, almost inaudible.

De Vil made a huffy little sound through her nose. “I'll be sure to note that when I report your progress to the Headmistress.”

She felt a little bit like crying. Bitterly, Namine wondered if she'd done anything _but_ cry since her first day.

Kairi's hand shot up. “Please, Ma'am -”

“You've had your turn already.”

“No, Ma'am. I know I can help her if we could have just five minutes...”

“Five minutes longer than the rest of the class has had to prepare? No. In any case, it's unlikely such a woeful performance will be improved with an entire extra week to prepare,” Professor De Vil declared, compounding Namine's humiliation.

The stress was like a physical weight. Even from across the room, Kairi felt the harshness like a blow to her chest.

“I don't see what harm it could do just to give a little extra help,” Kairi said, a little more meek.

“I would consider your declining academic performance in recent weeks before you offer so much charity,” De Vil shot at her. More giggles erupted, distinctly more nasty from some girls. “Now get in control of yourself. You're disrupting your classmates.”

Namine's mouth formed the word 'sorry', but she couldn't make a sound. However, Kairi's anger pushed through Namine's emotions.

“In that case, may we be excused?” she asked, sounding steadier than she felt.

“I beg your pardon?”

“You said it yourself – there's no point in Namine trying anymore today, and I'm being disruptive,” Kairi said, staring her down. “We might as well leave.”

Slipping off the blindfold, Namine lifted her head.

Professor De Vil’s fury was contained just below the surface. “You may be excused to the Headmistress's office, where you can explain your clear disrespect for your instructors and classmates.”

Kairi's blood boiled, but she didn't argue. She stood up and threw her bag onto her shoulder, extending her arm for the bird of paradise to perch on. “Fine.”

Namine struggled with herself, then stood to hastily gather her things.

“Not you,” De Vil shot at Namine coldly. “Stay in your seat and see if you can garner anything from watching your classmates.”

“With all due respect,” she murmured, “I think I've caused just as much of a disturbance.”

Professor De Vil's eyes narrowed, and an invisible pull forced Namine back into her seat with a thud of pain that made her throat constrict. Her cheeks burned again, forced to watch as Kairi marched out of the classroom with her head held high.

Kairi’s stride slowed in the hallway. She glanced down the corridor in the direction of the headmistress’s office, then leaned into the wall and waited for class to end.

 

* * *

 

Letters and parcels from home were delivered once each week after lessons had let out for the weekend break. Namine knew she wouldn't be getting anything – she never did – but Kairi had convinced her to come along with her to the dining hall just to have each other's company. The mail carrier got a fetching smile for his trouble as he handed Kairi an unusual package. It was long and wide, but nearly flat.

“What do you think it is?” Namine inquired, following her as Kairi split off from the line of girls expecting care packages from home.

“I'm not sure. Why don't we go out on the lawn to open it?” Kairi offered her hand to Namine, trying to contain her excitement.

Namine took it immediately. “That sounds great.”

The hallways seemed darker and smaller than they used to be, but Namine was content enough with Kairi that she didn't search for monsters with more than a glance. They walked out of the building to their usual spot under one of the great stone monoliths, and Kairi tucked her skirt under herself as she settled on the grass. Smoothing her braid over her shoulder, Namine took her seat as well.

Kairi hummed as she untied the twine, unfolding the brown paper over what, at first glance, seemed to be an oversized notebook. Namine pulled herself closer, curious.

“I didn't expect them to get my letter so soon,” Kairi beamed, pleased, and slid the paper away completely. There was a smaller tin box of watercolor paints stacked on top of the book of specialty paper.

“Oh, pretty... I didn't know you paint!” Namine marveled.

“I don't, but I wrote to my parents that I'd taken up an interest in landscapes.”

“Have you?”

Shaking her head, Kairi held the gift out to her in offering. Namine turned pink when it dawned on her what Kairi had done.

“Oh...! I couldn't -”

“Please take them,” Kairi implored. “You always seem so much happier when you talk about art. You just... light up so beautifully, and I want to see that Namine more often.”

She couldn't say no, blush deepening more and more. After a second, Namine took them and leaned in swiftly to kiss her cheek.

“Thank you. You're the sweetest person I've ever known...”

Kairi's smile was one of pure affection, though she tried not to let that statement make her sad. Stroking her hair, she said, “You deserve so much better than the life you've had.”

Namine leaned into the contact, and Kairi smoothly ducked her head to kiss her. The air had begun to cool with the setting of the sun, but neither of them felt the chill.

They lingered there, content, until someone inside the Academy screamed.


End file.
